Ile-de-France information

Île-de-France is one of the twenty-six administrative regions of France. 90% of its territory is covered by the Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area") which extends beyond its borders in places. Created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961, it was renamed as the "Île-de-France" région in 1976 to bring it into line with the rest of France's administrative regions created in 1972. Despite the name change, Île-de-France is still popularly referred to by French people as the Région Parisienne ("Paris Region") or RP.
Île-de-France is the most populated region of France. It has more residents than Belgium, Greece, Austria, Portugal or Sweden, and a comparable population to the U.S. state of Ohio and the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the fourth most populous country subdivision in the European Union after England, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria.
Economically, Île-de-France is one of the richest regions in the world: its 2006 GDP was € 500,839 million ($US 629,100 million), nearly the entire GDP of the Netherlands, with a per capita GDP at € 43,370 ($US 54,477) the same year. (...) more....

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